Oscar-Winning Director Recalls RDJ's "Slapstick Bulls--t" While Filming Controversial 1994 Movie: "You're Ruining My Movie"

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Natural Born Killers

Oliver Stone speaks on Robert Downey Jr.'s acting choices on the set of Natural Born Killers. Natural Born Killers is a 1994 film about two people who become serial killers after having had traumatic childhoods. The film is directed by Stone and features a leading cast including Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, O-Lan Jones, Ed White, Richard Lineback, Lanny Flaherty, and Rodney Dangerfield.

“Oh come on—that’s too much! You’re going too far, Robert. You’re ruining my movie! Forget the dumb dick idea. This isn’t… This isn’t some slapstick bullshit.”

Natural Born Killers Was Controversial

Juliette Lewis as Mallory Wilson Knox smiling in Natural Born Killers

Part of Downey Jr.'s on-set conduct, as alluded to in the source, was likely related to his struggles with addiction in the period wherein the movie was released. The actor has been vocal about his history with drug addiction, which reportedly began in the late 1980s and continued throughout the following decade. Even in the early '90s, he was a serious actor, having just received an Oscar nomination for his work in Chaplin. Stone was a much more experienced director who had already won Oscars for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July.

Robert Downey Jr. is now sober and has won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer .

Stone's vehement opposition to Downey Jr.'s goofing can also be partially attributed to the fact that Natural Born Killers is about such a controversial subject. The film attempts to critique the glorification of violence by revealing a world wherein the movie's murderer protagonists are problematically romanticized. Despite this attempt, however, Natural Born Killers itself was criticized for being overly violent. Some of the discourse posited that Natural Born Killers could inspire rather than dissuade violence.

This controversy is likely what led Natural Born Killers to have critically disparate reviews. The film sits at an almost dead-even 51% Tomatometer across its 49 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were much more receptive to the film, giving it an 81% approval rating. The film did not do very well at the box office, making $50.2 million against its estimated $34 million budget. Even with the controversy, Natural Born Killers will live on as an essential film in Stone's career and one that still creates conversation today.

Source: Esquire

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